A BACKWARD GLANCE

The Diamond Jubilee

THE WHOLE WORLD has echoed and re-echoed joyous congratulations to England’s Queen, jubilating the sixtieth year of her reign. Literary men have striven with each other to see how much could be said in praise of the lady and of her reign. The period of reign has even been styled ‘The Victorian Age’ — after the olden style; as for instance ‘The Augustan Age’ was a term applied to the reign of Augustus Caesar.

We have great respect for the royal lady and great appreciation of the blessings of the past sixty years; but we are far from supposing that the latter were dependent upon the former. In the days of the Caesars one man could and did do much to impress his imperial character for good or for bad upon the art, the literature, the finances, the morals and everything pertaining to his reign. Hence there was a propriety in associating the ruler and the epoch as in the term — ‘Augustan Age’. But this is not true to-day — especially not in Victoria. Indeed, the lady and the nation are to be congratulated that she did not attempt to stamp her personality and will upon the affairs of the great nation of which she is the nominal head and ruler, as William II is evidently attempting to stamp his personality upon Germany.

Great credit is due Queen Victoria for not attempting to rule the British Empire in any particular. Contenting herself with being a figure-head of royalty, she has done the very best thing for these times, in leaving the rule, the government, wholly in the hands of Parliament, the representatives of the people — so far as we recall not even once exercising royal prerogatives, of veto, etc. Any king on the same throne, who would have stamped no personality upon his epoch, would have been despised by his subjects as lacking character; but sex-chivalry permits that in the Queen non-intervention in the government and non-personality of reign shall be esteemed graces. Had a man been on the throne, all of his subjects would have insisted that he have some policy of his own, and among people like the English and Americans, as soon as it would be declared it would arouse those of different views as enemies and opponents. This would have led long ago either to imperialism and less liberty as in Germany, or else to a republican form of government, as in France and the United States.

No — the blessings of the past sixty years are not to be credited to kings and queens, nor to republics, but to God. As already pointed out in Millennial Dawn [books], the great prophetic period termed ‘The Day of His Preparation,’ began in 1799 and will end with 1914: and it is the advancement of this ‘day’ and the light which God provides, necessary for its work, that has brought the wonders of the present, and is rapidly now bringing on the conditions for the great time of trouble, for the overthrow of present imperfect conditions and the establishment of the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.

Reproduced from Zion’s Watch Tower (USA), July 1897, pp. 193, 194. House punctuation style applied.

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04/2022 - ukbiblestudents.co.uk

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